Abstract: A multi-layer facial model is proposed to resolve a challenging problem in photorealistic facial expression synthesis—the diversity and individuality of expressions.The model decomposes the face image into three layers:the base layer,motion layer and residue layer.In base layer,the active appearance model is used to represent global and general changes of expressions.In motion layer,a motion texture subdivision and combination mechanism is proposed based on the hidden Markov model to generate new kinds of motion texture,which is the key design to model expression's diversity and individuality.In residue layer,wrapping technique is used to retrieve and synthesize facial texture details.Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed motion texture subdivision and combination mechanism efficiently avoid the insufficiency of sample's expression types and generate individual expressions.Additionally,the proposed facial layered model is simple and useful,and is able to synthesize diversiform and individual facial expressions.